Snooker player, born in London, UK. He turned professional in 1978 and dominated snooker in the 1980s, winning the world championship six times: 1981, 19834, and 19879. His first major honour was the Coral UK Championship in Preston (1980), thereafter winning every major honour the game had to offer. In Oldham, during the Lada Classic (1982), he became the first man to compile a televised maximum 147 break. In the late 1980s, he topped the rankings every year. In 1997 he won the Benson & Hedges Masters, the most important non-ranking tournament. At the age of 48 he reached the final of the 2005 UK Championship, but lost to 18 year-old Ding Junhui of China.
| Steve Davis | ||
|---|---|---|
| Born | August 22, 1957 (age 49) | |
| Nationality | English | |
| Nickname(s) |
The Nugget, Interesting, Ginger Magician |
|
| Professional | 1978– | |
| Highest ranking | #1 (7 years) | |
| Career prize money | £5,320,950 | |
| Tournament wins | ||
| Ranking events | 28 | |
| Non-ranking events | 24 | |
| World Champion | 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987–1989 | |
Steve Davis OBE (born August 22, 1957) is an English professional snooker player who lives in Brentwood, Essex with his wife and two sons.
Davis has won more professional snooker titles (including six world and six UK championships) than any other player and is justifiably considered one of the greatest players of all time.
Snooker career
Early career
After a successful amateur career that saw him win age-group titles in snooker and billiards, Davis turned professional in 1978.
Glory years (1980s)
Davis won his first major title in the same year - the UK Championship - during which he comprehensively beat two of his close rivals, Griffiths 9-0 in the semi-finals and Higgins 16-6 in the final. He reached his first World final in 1981, having again seen off Higgins and Griffiths in the second round and the quarter-finals respectively, as well as reigning world champion Cliff Thorburn in the semi-finals and a young Jimmy White in the opening round.
He followed up his world title win with a 9-0 final victory over Dennis Taylor in the Jameson International and then emphatically retained the UK Championship with a 9-0 win over White in the semi-final and a 16-3 win over Griffiths in the final.
Falling victim to the Crucible Curse affecting first-time world champions on their return to the Crucible, Davis suffered a shock 10-1 loss to Tony Knowles in the first round at the World Championships in 1982, and was also denied a third consecutive UK title with defeat in the quarter-finals to Griffiths. Following those two setbacks, he won the first of four World Doubles titles with partner Tony Meo. Davis regained the world title the following season with a session in the final to spare, defeating an overwhelmed Thorburn, who had seen his previous three matches go to a deciding frame, 18-6, and a year later became the first man to retain his title at the Crucible Theatre by beating Jimmy White 18-16 in the final.
Davis lost 16-15 to Higgins in the 1983 UK Championship final, despite having led 7-0 in the opening stages. Davis won the frame and then seven of the next eight to win 16-14.
Perhaps his most notable match was the 1985 World Championship final against Dennis Taylor. Davis seemed set for his third consecutive win, with an opening session of near-faultless snooker giving him a 7-0 lead, which was extended to 8-0 in the evening session, before Taylor bounced back to trail only 7-9.
At the 1986 world championship, having seen off White 13-5 in the quarter-finals and Thorburn 16-12 in a gruelling semi-final, he faced 150-1 outsider Joe Johnson in the final, but surprisingly lost 18-12 to the Yorkshireman. The result didn't affect his position at the top of the world rankings, as he had won the UK, the Grand Prix and the British Open in the past year. He met Johnson in the final again a year later, with Davis winning 18-14. He went into the 1988 world championship as the holder of three ranking titles - the Mercantile Credit Classic, the Players Championship and the UK Championship - as well as the Masters and the Irish Masters. In the tournament itself he rarely looked back, beating Mike Hallett 13-1, Tony Drago 13-4 and Thorburn 16-8 en route to the final, where at 8-8 with Griffiths after two sessions, he pulled away to secure his 5th world title by winning 18-11. A year later Davis completed the most crushing World Championship final victory in the modern era when he defeated John Parrott 18-3 in 1989. In the same tournament he also set the record for the fewest frames conceded (23) at the championships en route to winning it.
Later years
That win was, to date, Davis' last world title, though he continued to compete and win tournaments well into the 1990s. Among others he won four of his eight Irish Masters titles, the European Open and the Mercantile Credit Classic during the decade.
Arguably the most memorable of his later tournmant wins came in the Benson & Davis dropped out of the Top 16 for three seasons during the early 2000s, before subsequently enjoying an up-turn in form and winning his place back for the 2003/2004 season. He was runner-up in the Welsh Open to O'Sullivan in 2004, while in 2005 he reached the quarter finals of the World Championship before losing to eventual winner Shaun Murphy.
As of 2006, Davis has won a record 73 professional titles, 28 of them in ranking events. His record of six world titles in the modern era has been bettered only by Stephen Hendry and no player has yet matched his tally of six UK titles.
Tournament wins
Ranking tournaments World Championship (1981, 1983, 1984, 1987–1989) Jameson International (1983, 1984) Fidelity Unit Trusts International (1987, 1988) BCE International (1989) UK Championship (1984–1987) Lada Classic (1984) Grand Prix (1985, 1988, 1989) British Open (1986, 1993) Mercantile Credit Classic (1987, 1988, 1992) Asian Open (1992) European Open (1993) Regal Welsh Open (1994, 1995) Other tournaments Benson & Hedges Masters (1982, 1988, 1997) Scottish Masters (1982, 1983, 1984) Irish Masters (1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994) Pot Black (1982, 1983, 1991) UK Championship (1980, 1981) World Trickshot (1994, 1995, 1997) Hofmeister World Doubles (1982, 1983, 1985, 1986 — all with Tony Meo)Outside snooker
Davis became known for his coolness and impeccable conduct in high-pressure situations, earning himself the nicknames The Ginger Magician and The Nugget.
Davis is no relation to snooker players Joe Davis and Fred Davis.
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